SHORT SOLENT MARK IV – 2014 WINTER BUILD

wollins · September 23, 2014, 06:16:29 PM

Quote from: sihinch on September 23, 2014, 03:09:49 PM
Where do you order your balsa from, Colin?

I love how you make me seem like some sort of veteran builder!

This is only the second time I've ever bought Balsa in any quantity. Anyway, much as I'd like to support the LHS, I just couldn't afford to do so with the amount of wood that these planes call for. I bought the bulk of the CL-415's wood from A&J's and some from Pinnacle and it was quite costly. (and that was for half this amount!) Wood ain't cheap, that's for sure!

National Balsa was where I got this batch from. I also tried Don's balsa (Don Wilson out of Grimsby) but he was only marginally more affordable than the LHS.

Colin

wollins · September 24, 2014, 11:44:22 AM

Well since I have some stuff coming for HK that will be needed in the build I've decided to wait until my intended Oct 1st start date afterall. In the meantime I decided I'll try to get one of my ARFs (Great Planes Cosmic Wind) put together. I'm aiming for this weekend to be done!

So I've started on about an hour ago and already I have a stress headache. (modifications, modifications!) This does not bode well for a marathon scratch build! lol!

Colin

wollins · September 29, 2014, 02:02:48 PM

Well that's done! Wouldn't it be nice if I could also finish the Solent in three days? Gotta love an ARF!

Colin

sihinch · September 29, 2014, 02:13:10 PM

Looks fast.

What's the power system? 600 watts?

wollins · September 29, 2014, 08:52:51 PM

Quote from: sihinch on September 29, 2014, 02:13:10 PM
Looks fast. What's the power system? 600 watts?

Nah just 400, after all its just a two pound plane.

Colin

wollins · October 02, 2014, 07:46:38 PM

Doesn't she look "pretty"?

Colin.

P.S. Anyone wanna guess what color my Morphines are gonna be?

Papa · October 02, 2014, 09:03:03 PM

Black and Orange.

Jack.

wollins · October 02, 2014, 11:52:46 PM

Quote from: Papa on October 02, 2014, 09:03:03 PM
Black and Orange.
Jack.

Orange and orange!

lol!

Anyways, to get back on track ... I'm still waiting on some bits to come in before I start on the big build and we're already a day late!

Work bench has been cleared and ready to go. You'll notice there's a small box on the bench. I'm REALLY excited about it's contents. It will make the difference between any other Ivan Pettigrew Solent that's ever been built (to my knowledge) and mine.

When I combine "it" with the scale flaps (plus the other things I intend to incorporate) that I hope to be able to build into this thing it'll take the "scaleness" (not a word I know) to a level never before seen in an Ivan Solent.

I'll keep you guys guessing as to what it is until I actually build it into the plane.

This is my strategy to hopefully maintain some interest in what I'm predicting will be a marathon build.

Regarding the flaps ... when I originally researched these scale "Gouge" flaps, (thanks Rob!) I immediately felt they would be waaaaay out of my league to implement, much less design. However Jack has voluntarily come up with some ideas and has graciously offered to help me design them. Thanks Jack!

And so we wait ...

Colin

wollins · October 06, 2014, 09:50:43 AM

Ok enough of this waiting around for parts.

Let the 700 hour odyssey begin!

I figure if I can consistently put in three hours a day we can have our maiden on May 1st 2015?

In any event I'm gonna tackle the spinners to start. As I've mentioned in a previous post the spinners that are commercially available are not the right shape that I'm looking for and since the custom ones are like 40 bucks a pop (times FOUR!) I'm just gonna have to make my own.

Wish me luck cause my last attempt was a real PITA. However I'm confident that it'll go much easier this time though cause I'm using a completely different method which is much less labor intensive.

So .. here we go!

Colin

battlestu · October 06, 2014, 11:00:20 AM

i'll be watching

... btw did the cosmic wind maiden? and how does it fly?

Greg

wollins · October 06, 2014, 02:40:52 PM

No maiden yet ... all ready to go though.

wollins · October 06, 2014, 03:33:33 PM

BTW, anyone got an old "brushed" esc they don't mind parting with? Any amperage rating will do. Willing to pay for it of course.

Colin

wollins · October 09, 2014, 02:56:27 PM

Ok everything's here.

Now since I found the wing to be the tougher of the two (wing and fuse) to build the last time, I'm gonna start with the wing this time. (I started with the fuse in my CL-415 build) Better to get the tough one out of the way first when I'm mentally fresh! (then I can enjoy the rest of the build)

Colin

piker · October 10, 2014, 08:34:11 AM

The fun begins! I'm hoping to get to my big, winter, build in a few days. I have to cut a bunch of Morphine wings first

BTW, I'm sure I have a brushed ESC or two kicking around. What current / voltage capacity do you need?

wollins · October 10, 2014, 08:26:40 PM

Quote from: piker on October 10, 2014, 08:34:11 AM
BTW, I'm sure I have a brushed ESC or two kicking around. What current / voltage capacity do you need?

Really doesn't matter as I'm just gonna be running some LED's off it. Greg's already promised me one but I can certainly use a couple.

So after 13.5 hours I've just finished (well almost) the spinners. I have to wonder if it wasn't worth it just to order the darn custom ones!

Anyways, I used a slightly different method involving the following materials:

Mold release
Cling Wrap
Dry Foam
Plywood
Pantyhose (yeah, you read that right! lol!)

Colin